How Many Countries In The World Play Cricket?
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the governing body of the cricket sport, which was formed in 1909 under the name the Imperial Cricket Conference by agents from three countries, which include Australia, England, and South Africa. The ICC has a total of 104 members, 12 of which are full members who participate in the Test Matches and the other 94 being associate members.
Full Members
South Africa, Zimbabwe, West Indies, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, England, and Ireland are the 12 full members of the ICC. Australia, England, and South Africa have had full memberships since 1909, followed by New Zealand, the West Indies, and India in 1926, and then Pakistan (1952), Sri Lanka (1981), Zimbabwe (1992), Bangladesh (2000), Afghanistan (2017), and Ireland (2017).
Founding Members
South Africa
South Africa was among the three founding members of ICC. Its national cricket team is popularly known as Protease and being a full member of the ICC they have the T20 International, One Day International, and Test status. As of 2018, the South African Cricket team had played 420 Test Matches, winning 157 and losing 139, 91 T20 matches, winning 54 and losing 36, and 586 ODIs winning 361 and losing 203.
England
England is another founding member that has been part of the ICC since 1909. The Cricket team of England represents both England and Wales. The team also represented Scotland until 1992. England has all the three international tournament status with the following results over the years: 999 Test Matches with 357 wins and 297 loses, 709 ODIs matches winning 351, and 100 T20 games with a record of 47 wins.
Australia
Australia is the third founding member of ICC and the joint oldest Test cricket history, a title it shares with England against whom they had the first Test Match in 1877. The Australian cricket team has played 812 Test matches with 383 wins and 219 loses, 912 ODIs with 556 wins and 313 loses, and 96 T20s winning a total of 49 matches and losing 44.
West Indies
Popularly known as the Windies, the West Indies cricket team is a team that represents the Caribbean region with players selected from around 15 countries in the area who are also members of the ICC. Over the years West Indies cricket team has won major awards that include the ICC Cricket World Cup which they have won twice, the T20s, and the ICC Champions Trophy among others.
New Zealand
Fondly known as the Black Caps, New Zealand is among the 12 full members of the ICC. They participated in their first ever Test Match in 1930 against England; they never won a single Test Match until 1956 when they defeated West Indies. New Zealand has played 426 Test matches with 92 wins and 170 losses. It made history in 2015 when it reached its first ever semi-final of a major tournament by beating South Africa in the ICC Cricket World Cup.
India
Best known as The Men in Blue, India was the 6th team to be granted Test status. During its first years in the Test, India was among the weakest team; they only own 35 of their first 196 Test matches. India, however, gained prominence in the 1970s gradually rising in the world of cricket to become the best during that period.
